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Evaluating PPC talent, part 1: Where to begin

How can you hire a paid search (or social) specialist that fits your business's needs if you don't know much about the channel yourself? Columnist Brett Middleton shares some practical tips for those looking to hire strong PPC talent.

The simple truth is that anyone working in any paid media field (like search or social) is incredibly hard to evaluate from the outside. Apart from looking at their current employment status, where do you even start? Finding strong PPC talent is challenging, especially if your business is new to paid advertising and has nobody in-house with the technical expertise to validate a candidate’s knowledge.

In this article, I am going to discuss where to begin when looking for PPC talent. It’s simply not enough to hire someone who has a certain number of years of experience — unfortunately, there isn’t a direct correlation between years and expertise when it comes to paid media. So what should you be thinking about (and doing) to make sure you hire the right person for you?

First, does it even make sense to hire?

This should really be your first question. If you’re not able to invest a minimum of $20,000 per month in advertising, it likely doesn’t make sense to have a full-time PPC manager. You’re better off working with a freelancer, an agency or someone in your office who can spending some of their time working on PPC and learning it.

In my opinion, it’s very feasible to take someone who has no experience, but is highly interested, and pay to train them on AdWords management. I’d even go so far as to say that this may be the best way to get started in advertising.

What you’re doing is ensuring that your campaign manager hasn’t developed bad habits. Yes, you’re investing in someone who may eventually leave you for a new job; but when this happens, your advertising will have grown to a level of sophistication where you can sensibly hire someone with experience.

PPC talent is highly sought after, and there is a tendency to change jobs frequently. Don’t let that stop you from taking the steps necessary to be successful!